Fountain pen



Patented Jan. 29, 1$i35 I n 'I -k l. Y l v UNITEDV STATES: PATENToFrlcl-z 1.989.220 n.n'ENH.. NJ.. Application February 20, 1934, No.'112,139

'z-olaims. (ci. 1go-109) My invention relates to improvements in pens,Referring to thedrawing in which correspondparticularly fountain pens:and nibs, or pens ing vand Vlikeparts are designated by the samerefproper, therefor. I erence characters throughout the several views,

In the manufacture `offountain pens jit is the "Figure 1 is afragmentary view partly in longi- I prevailing practice to equip themwith nibs or tudinal section and partly in elevation of a founv5 pens oflmore or less standard sizes, containing tain pen equipped with my novelnib or pen and a a high proportion of gold usually fourteen caratsvpreferredform ofmynib-reenforoing means. alloyed withv other metal. Theuse of gold, as Figure 2 is a view in elevation .of the nib with will beunderstood', is highly desirable because thereenforcing means attachedthereto and lookof its non-corrosive character, its softness and ing atthe upper 'face of the nib. l0

flexibility which contribute to ease of writing, `Figure 3 is-asimilarview'looking at the under and also because of commercial demand due toface of said nib.

general appreciation of its intrinsic value. Be- Figure 4 is a' faceview of thefreenforcing means cause of the high cost of vgold,`its.usein any such detached from the nib and drawn to an enlarged 16 or muchsmaller proportions is notfpracticable scale. f 15 in the manufacture ofnibs, particularly of the Figure 5 is a similar view of a modified form-usual sizes, for low cost fountain pens. of the reenforcing meanslooking at the under With the foregoing in mind, the primary obface`thereof and illustrating how said means is ject of my invention is toprovide in afountain adapted to vfacilitate the. flow of ink and to pre-20 pena so-calledgold nib having a high carat convent the'same fromspurting. v 20 tent, but a smaller amount or weight of gold Figure 6 isa view in transverse section illustherein than present day nibs ofcorresponding trating the reenforcingl means of Figure 5 atsizes, sovthat gold nib fountain pens may be protached to the nib and taken on theline 6-6 vduced at low cost. 1 of said Figure 5.

More specifically my invention comprehends Figure 'I is afragmentary'elevation looking 25.

a gold nib,'or pen, of high carat content but of at the upper face ofthe nib and illustrating how finer or thinner gauge than present daynibs of the reenforcing means may be modified to vary correspondingsize, so that the amount or weightl the flexibilityv of the writingpoint of the nib, and of gold therein is appreciably smaller as com-Figure 8 is aview similar to Figure 1, illus- $0 pared with the usualgold nibs, combined with trating devices Vfor mounting the nib and there- -30 novel nib reenforcing Vmeans for preventing the enforcing meansof Figure 5 in the barrel or holdnib from buckling or undue flexingunder writer of the pen to eliminate the usual ink feed bar. ingpressure, said means preferably having the uSpecifically describing theembodiment of the form of a frame of non-corrosive inexpensive inventionillustrated by Figures 1 to 4 inclusive,

85 metal relatively stiffer than the nib and reenfthe numeral 1designates the pen barrel, and 2 35 forcing the body portion of the niband also the the usual sleeve member wedged into the lower writing pointthereof. end of the barrel land forming therewith the Another object ofmy inventionis to provide pen holder. The sleeve member 2 is provided areenforcing frame for lthe nib adapted tov faciliwith an extension 3to'which an ink sack 4 is 40 tate and induce the fiow of ink 'tothe-writing suitably secured and has an axial bore 40 point of the niband to prevent the ink from 5 through which projects the upper end of anink spurting. feed bar 6 provided with an ink ow channel as Anotherobject is the provision-of a reenforcat 7. i ing frame readilyattachable to the nib to form The numeral 8 designates the nib, or penproptherewith a manufacturing unit. butv detachable er, which includes abody portion 9, a writing i5v therefrom if desired, and adaptable forusewith point 10 having upwardly concave side edges 11 the nib as aseparate detached unit.- and the usual tip 11'. Preferably the upperedge Other objects are to provide for elimination of or heel of the nibor pen 8 is concave as at 12 the usual ink feed bar, and for varying theflexfor a purpose presently apparent. As previousibility of the writingpoint of the nib. 1y stated,in substance, the nib 8 is formed of 50Subordinate objects will presently appear and gold alloy but of verythin gauge, as compared e the nature of my invention will be moreclearly with pens as now constructed; whereby an alloy understood from areading of the following deof high carat gold content may be utilized inits scription and claims in conjunction with the acmanufacture While atthe same time the amount companying drawing. Y or weight of gold issmall compared with the known types of nibs to correspondingly reducethe cost of production. f

Superposed upon the nib 8 is a single piece nib reenforcing frame 13including side members 14, an upper end member or heel part 15, and alower pointed end member or toe part 16, said frame being of a size andshape toextend along the'longitudinal edges or marginal portions of thenib substantially flush or coincident with said edges, to within a-short distance of the tip l1', the pointed end member 16 extendingacross the writing point 10 to additionally `reenforce the same againstundue iiexing, asbest shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this form of theinvention the reenforcing frame 13 is attached to the nib or pen 8 toform therewith a manufacturing unit. Preferably, for this purpose a lugor clip 17 is provided on the y"upper edge of the end member 15,centrally thereof, to be bent under the upper edge of the nib 8 and setin the concavity thereof, and avpair of similar lugs or clips 18 areprovided on opposite sides of the pointed end member 16 for similararrangement relative to the concave edges 11 of the writing point 10. Itwill be noted that the lugs 1'7 and 18 are arranged so as to preventaccidental displacement of the frame 13 and also to obviate unduespreading of the writing point 10. Also other means may be resorted tofor attaching the frame 13 to the nib 8 for instance spot welding, orsoldering. The nib 8 and attached frame 13 are removably mounted in thebore 5 over the ink feed bar 6 as shown in Figure 1. In this connectionit is to be noted that the end member or heel part 15 is wider than themembers 14 and 16 to provide an adequate bearing surface therefor in thebore 5, and to reenforce the gold pen against buckling during insertionofv the pen in the bore. It has already been stated that the frame 13 isformed of an inexpensive material relatively stiffer than the nib 8.Preferably stainless steel, or monel is utilized, said frame beingstamped, or otherwise formed of a .thin sheet thereof.

With reference to Figure 5, the frame 13 may be adapted to facilitatethe feed of the ink to the nib 8 by providing suitable ink channels inthe under side thereof. Preferably a continuous capillary channel 19 isengraved or otherwise formed around the entire frame together withcapillary feeder channels 20 leading from. the upper edge of the member15 to said channel 19 all the channels being on the side of the framethat contacts with the nib 8. These channels 19 and 20 are designedunder the flexing action of the nib 8 and frame 13 to induce a flow Iofink to the writing point 10 of said nib, the channels at the end 16 ofthe frame being in superposed relation to the usual slit in the writingpoint of the nib to lead ink thereto. To obviate spurting a series oflateral channels 2l are in the end members 16 in communication with thechannel 19 to receive and retain ink from the point 11 when the pen isinverted endwise and to serve as reservoirs for the ink so that inkshall be always immediately available for beginning writing without thenecessity `for shaking the pen or waiting for the ink to run from thesack. Obviously, 4ink would ow between the nib 8 and frame, even withoutthe channels 19, 20 and 21. If desired the described frames 13 may beadapted for use with a nib as a separate detached unit by eliminatingthe lugs or clips 17 and 18 said frames in this case being merely laidupon the nib and heldin place by the holder 1,

The ink feeding, or channeled form of frame 13 may also be used to takethe place of the ink feed bar 6 as shown in Figure 8. In this form ofthe invention a plug 22 is utilized in lieu of the sleeve 2 said plughaving an extension 23 to which the ink sack 4 is suitably connected andalso having an ink flow channel 24 into which the nib 8 and frame 13 arefitted. Preferably, in this form of the invention, the frame 13 isadapted for use as a separate detached unit held in place together withthe nib by the pen holder.

The invention makes it possible to use an extremely thin gold nib with aminimum of metal therein, by reenforcing the gold nib against bucklingor undue bending under writing pressure.- The whole pen is thereforeinexpensive and yet reliable and durable. The degree of flexibility ofthe writing point may be varied by locating the end 16 of the frame atdifferent distances from the extremity of the writing point; for exampleFigure '7 shows a nib havingY a more flexible writing point than thatshown in Figures 1 to 4, the end 16 of the frame being located fartherfrom the extremity ofthe writing point.

The foregoing constitutes a detailed description of my invention and itis believed that the operation and advantages thereof will be cleartherefrom. It is to be understood however that thev invention is not tobe confined to the precise details set forth and that right is hereinreserved to modifications falling fairly Within the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what claim is: y

l. The combination of a nib having a heel and a Writing point, and a nibreenforcing open frame having a heel part overlying the heel of the nib,a toe part overlying the Writing point, and side members connecting saidheel part and toe part and overlying and secured to the longitudinal`marginal portions of said nib, and a holderhaving a recess frictionallyreceiving the heel of the nib and the heel part of said frame, so thatsaid heel part, the side members and the toe part of the frame reenforcethe heel, 'the longitudinal marginal portions and the writing point ofthe nib, respectively.

2. The combination of a nib having a heel and a writing point, and anibreenforcing open frame having a heel part overlying the heel of thenib, a toe part overlying the writing point,

and side members connecting said heel part and toe part and overlyingandv secured to the longitudinal marginal portions of said nib, and aholder having a recess frictionally receiving the heel of the nib andthe heel part of said frame, said frame having lugs at its edgesclinched over the edges of said nib to positively secure the frame onthe nib, so that .said heel part, the side members and the toe part ofthe frame reenforce the heel, the longitudinal marginal portions and thewriting point of the nib, respectively.

3. The lcombination of a nib having a heel and a writing point, and anib reenforcing open frame having a heel part overlying the heel of thenib, a toe part overlying the Writing point, and side members connectingsaid heel part and toe part and overlying and secured to thelongitudinal marginal portions of said nib, and a holder having a recessfrictionally receiving the heel of the nib and the heel part of saidframe, said writing point being longitudinally split and said toe partof the frame having lugs clinched over the opposite side edges of thewriting point to limit spreading of said writing point.

4. The .combination with a pen nib having a longitudinally split writingpoint, of a reenforcing member overlying said writing point and havinglugs clinched over the opposite side edges of the writing point to limitspreading of said Writing point. K

5. The combination of a. pen nib having a heel and a writing point andbeing inherently incapable of withstanding writing pressure, and an openrelatively stiffer reenforcing frame having a heel part overlying theheel of the nib, a toe part partially overlying said Writing' point, andside members connecting said heel part and toe part and overlying theside edge portions of said nib, and means positively fastening saidframe in snug'contact with said nib.

6. A pen nib comprising an open frame formed of stii inexpensivematerial having a heel part and a toe part and side members connectingsaid heel part and toe part, and a thin highly ilex ible body portion ofprecious metal alloy underlying said frame and exposed therethroughbetween said heel part, toe part, and side members vand having a splitwriting point inherently inconduct ink to the writing point andcooperates with the frame to produce an ornamental appearance.

7. 'Ihe combination set forth in claim 6 wherein said frame is formed ofstainless steel and said body portion is formed of a-gold alloy.

' NORMAN E. WEIGEL.

